Technical Field
The present invention relates to a paper transfer device.
Background Arts
Generally, a paper transfer device for transferring papers along a paper transfer path is applied to a printer that prints images and/or texts on a paper, or to an image forming apparatus such as a copier that copies images and/or texts on a paper.
A Patent Document 1 (Japanese patent application publication No. 2015-63381) discloses an example of this kind of a paper transfer device. According to the paper transfer device disclosed in the Patent Document 1, it is possible to remove a paper jammed between two neighboring paper transfer devices without remaining a piece of the jammed paper.
Hereinafter, the paper transfer device disclosed in the Patent Document 1 will be explained briefly with reference to FIG. 10.
As shown in FIG. 10, the prior-art paper transfer device 100 disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is mounted along a paper transfer path in an inkjet printer (image forming apparatus). The paper transfer device 100 is disposed between neighboring two devices (not shown in FIG. 10) that are disposed adjoiningly on upstream and downstream sides of the paper transfer device 100 along the paper transfer direction, respectively.
In the paper transfer device 100, a drive-side paper guide plate 111 and a driven-side paper guide plate 121 are provided so as to face to each other. Plural drive rollers (not shown in FIG. 10) are attached to the drive-side paper guide plate 111. Plural driven rollers (not shown in FIG. 10) driven by the drive rollers are attached to box-shaped portions 122a and 123a of the driven-side paper guide plate 121. A paper P is transferred between the drive-side paper guide plate 111 and the driven-side paper guide plate 121, i.e. transferred by the drive rollers and the driven rollers while being nipped therebetween.
The drive-side paper guide plate 111 is fixedly disposed beneath the paper transfer path. An upstream-side portion of the drive-side paper guide plate 111 in the paper transfer direction is made flat, and a downstream side thereof is curved upward so as to lead a paper to a paper transfer path extending in a downstream one of the neighboring two devices.
The driven-side paper guide plate 121 is disposed above the paper transfer path so as to face to the drive-side paper guide plate 111. The driven-side paper guide plate 121 is divided, along a paper width direction perpendicular to the paper transfer direction, into a first divided paper guide plate 122 and a second divided paper guide plate 123 by a dividing line BL. The first divided paper guide plate 122 can be drawn out to one side along the paper width direction (to a front side of the device 100). The second divided paper guide plate 123 can be opened upwardly (is rotatable) while keeping its location on the other side along the paper width direction (on a rear side of the device 100).
The first divided paper guide plate 122 is slidably attached to the drive-side paper guide plate 111 so that it can be drawn to the front side while being guided by a pair of draw-out guide plates 131 and 132 that are attached to an upper surface 111a of the drive-side paper guide plate 111. When the first divided paper guide plate 122 is drawn out, nips between the drive rollers and the driven rollers are released.
According to the above paper transfer device 100, a paper is transferred from upstream to downstream along the paper transfer direction between the drive-side paper guide plate 111 and the driven-side paper guide plate 121 while being nipped and fed-forward by the drive rollers and the driven rollers. Even in a case where a paper jams between the drive-side paper guide plate 111 and the driven-side paper guide plate 121 and the jammed paper extends across the dividing line BL (extends from one of the neighboring two devices to the paper transfer device 100), a user can easily remove the jammed paper by hand without remaining a piece of the jammed paper in the paper transfer device 100, because nips between the drive rollers and the driven rollers are released by drawing out the first divided paper guide plate 122 to the front side.